Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that these protests will result in much more than the detentions, arrests, and deaths of some of the protesters. Without ignoring the fact that the Shah was another in a long line of corrupt pricks propped up by the U.S., this is what happens when you willingly submit to theocracy: By the time you're willing to admit that you've screwed yourself over, it's too late to do anything about it. And your kids, and your kids' kids, and every successive generation will think of you as the generation that condemned them to begging authoritarian zealots for the most basic of human rights. These images should guide our reactions to the ideas and political activism of the religious right wing here in the United States, because Fred Phelps isn't more crazy than the rest of the religious right—just a little louder and a lot more truthful about his beliefs and intentions.

These pictures are incredible. The extent of this protest is so much more than I was even aware of…